Can you believe it? Another week is in the books and that means we’re one week closer to Opening Day. But before we get ready for Opening Day, we’ve still got a week’s worth of games to go through and take a look at what happened. We’ll look at the performances of: The Starting Pitcher, The Offense and the Bullpen/Defense. If you read last week’s post, it’ll be very similar in structure to that post. Before we get started I want to give a quick shout out to ‘NYSportsXtra’ which is a podcast that covers all things New York Sports. They recently reached out to me and asked if I’d be interested in having an ad for the site on their latest episode, and they did a fantastic job promoting it and I recommend you check it out as well. A link to their twitter is in the Affiliates page and you can find the link to their latest episode from there. But, without any further ado, let’s jump into this week’s Review of Mets’ Spring Training.

A lot of pressure was on Steven Matz heading into this one. After a disastrous last start, Matz was out to prove why he still deserves to be in the rotation and through 4 Inning’s Pitched, he certainly made a case for himself, and we’ll talk about that in just a moment. Overall, it was a fun game and the Mets made a pretty nice comeback to tie the game and avoid getting the L.

Like I said, Steven Matz had a lot of pressure on him heading into this one. After giving up 10 runs in less than 2 Innings Pitched over his first 2 starts, Matz needed to prove that he has a legitimate case to be a part of the Mets’ rotation by Opening Day. A leadoff double by Leonys Martin would be the start for Steven’s outing and I was worried immediately. But after getting a groundout, he caught Martin attempting to steal 3rd and picked him off with a throw to Frazier to get 2 outs and the runner off the bases. Following it up with a strikeout, Matz was out of the inning unscathed. He gave up a leadoff single to start the 2nd but quickly got out of trouble with a fly out and a double play. Working around a walk in the 3rd, he got 2 fly outs and a ground out to avoid any trouble. Finishing his outing in the bottom of the 4th, he gave up a leadoff single again but got the next 2 batters to fly out and struck out the last batter he’d face for the day. His line score for the day 53 pitches thrown over 4 Inning’s Pitched, 3 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 Walk and 2 Strikeouts. It was a strong showing by Matz and his ability to work around leadoff hits was something that stuck out a lot to me when I was watching. A lot of pitchers can become self-destructive when there is a runner on base but he stayed calm, recorded the outs and even caught a runner trying to steal (which is something I love to see by Mets’ pitchers/catchers.) There is still a lot of Spring Training left to be played, but by the end of this game, I was pleased with Steven’s performance and hope he’s on his way to being the dominating young pitcher he once was.

The Mets bats were looking good throughout the game, though there might not have been much scoring throughout it all. Frazier recorded the first Mets’ hit in the top of the 1st with a single but was left on base. Kevin Plawecki hit a leadoff home run in the top of the 2nd that would get the Mets on the board first with a 1-0 lead. Jose Lobaton would follow it up with a double, making a case for himself as a possible call up throughout the season. Lobaton was left on base after a ground out and 2 strike outs though. The Mets next offense wouldn’t be until the top of the 6th inning when Jose Reyes drew a 1-out walk. After a strikeout by Frazier, it was up to Flores to drive in a run and he sure did with a 2-run homer to left center field, putting the Mets within a run of the Tigers. Still down a run, the Mets would rally in the top of the 7th with a triple hit by Gavin Cecchini. Ty Kelly would drive him in with a 2-out single, tying the game at 4 runs apiece. Flores would have the last hit by Mets’ batters in the top of the 8th with a single, going 2 for 4 on the day. The game ended in a tie, but it was good to see the Mets rally from behind and avoid taking a loss. The Mets finished the game with 7 hits, 4 runs and 1 error. Besides Flores, Plawecki and Kelly drove in the other runs for the Mets on the day. While there were bright spots throughout the lineup, there were some not so bright moments as well. Lagares went 0 for 3, Reyes went 0 for 2, as did Rosario. But it’s Spring Training and not every day is going to be a slug fest.

Let’s talk about the Bullpen now. After Steven Matz threw 4 scoreless frames, Robles was called upon to keep the game scoreless. After giving up a single and a double, Robles then allowed a 3-run homer to occur, giving the Tigers a 3-1 lead in the 5th inning. If that wasn’t bad enough, he then gave up a solo homer making it 4-1 for the Tigers. He was able to avoid further trouble after a single turned into a Double Play and he got a fly out. But, the damage had been done and it was going to be an uphill battle for the Mets. Sewald came in for the 6th inning and threw a scoreless frame, continuing to prove why he’s a good arm to have in the bullpen. The next 2 relief appearances were Tyler Bashlor and Corey Oswalt. Bashlor pitched the 7th inning. After an error by Frazier allowed a baserunner to reach, Bashlor walked another putting 2 men on with no out. Nido picked off the runner at 2nd, giving the young pitcher an out to work with. Another single was given up and then it appeared a sac fly was going to give the Tigers the lead, but a good throw by Evans got the out at the plate, turning a double play and getting them out of the inning. Corey Oswalt was called on for the 8th and 9th inning. Giving up a leadoff triple in the 8th, Oswalt got 3 ground outs to avoid a run from scoring, keeping the game tied. Thankfully, the bottom of the 9th was less stressful as he was able to get 3 outs on a strikeout, a fly out and a line out. Robles continues to be troubling out of the pen, after this game he sports an ERA of 13.50 over 6 Innings Pitched. If Robles can’t turn the corner by Opening Day, he may very well lose his role in the bullpen. I don’t know who they’d give his spot to, but there are a lot of pitchers trying to earn a spot on the roster and if Robles doesn’t shape up, they may be taking his spot. Sewald continues to look impressive out of the pen with an ERA of 1.42 over 6.1 Innings Pitched. Sewald was impressive out of the pen last season and has brought that over with him in Spring Training this season. Bashlor and Oswalt looked good, they’re both young (24 years old) and have a lot of room for improvement, but they both looked impressive in their outings and did a good job of keeping the game tied. I’d like to take a moment to appreciate Nido. Nido opened a lot of eyes with his performance in the Arizona Fall League, and he’s been a bright spot this Spring Training. While his bat isn’t all that hot, he’s proven to be a good defensive catcher and if things go sour (hopefully they don’t) for d’Arnaud or Plawecki, Nido is a guy the Mets could always call on.

Overall, the Mets played well. Matz finally looked like he was getting the pitches he wanted and he worked around singles and doubles without giving up any runs AND he picked off a runner. I love pick offs. Lagares still wasn’t hitting and he may be losing the race for starting Center Fielder come Opening Day. There is still plenty of time for him to turn the corner but at the moment, his spot could be going to Brandon Nimmo…time will tell though. Plawecki’s bat has stayed hot, even though he went 1 for 3, he sports a .333 Batting Average and has continued to impress. Cecchini also keeps his bat hot, getting on base as the tying run with a triple and eventually coming across to score the tying run. That beard has done wonders for him. But overall, good game by the Mets and anytime they can avoid an L, I’ll be happy.

March 10th 2018: New York Mets @ New York Yankees (Matt Harvey vs Luis Cessa)

Looking to redeem themselves after a disappointing loss to their crosstown rivals a few days earlier, the Mets traveled to Tampa in hopes to get a win against the Yankees. This time the Yankees brought their big bats with them, Stanton and Judge were in the lineup, along with Romine and Drury. It’d be a difficult task for Matt Harvey who was making his 3rd start of the season. In the past 2 starts, Harvey had been able to look strong on the mound and he was hoping to continue that against the Yankees. The bats were also looking to come alive as the Mets were out hit 17 to 6 (hits) in their last game against the Yankees.

Okay so before I go play-by-play on Harvey’s performance, I want to say that a lot of the runs and hits were caused by bad judgement calls on the outfield and the other position players. I’m not saying Harvey wasn’t the cause of them, I’m just saying that a few things could’ve been improved and possibly saved some runs. In the bottom of the 1st, Gardner greeted Harvey with a leadoff single. Harvey was then tasked with facing the 2017 AL Rookie of the Year, Aaron Judge with a man on and nobody out. Judge would also smack a single into left field and a poor throw decision by Bornstein allowed Gardner to get to 3rd and Judge get to 2nd on what should have been a routine single. Nonetheless, there were 2 men in scoring position with nobody out as Giancarlo Stanton was at the plate. Stanton was hit by the pitch and the bases were then loaded with nobody out. Brandon Drury hit a single and scored the first run of the game giving the Yankees a 1-0 lead over the Mets early in the game. Tyler Austin grounded out but scored a run in the process, giving them a 2-0 lead. Romine grounded into a double play and got Harvey out of the inning with only giving up 2 runs, despite the bases being loaded with nobody out. Harvey had a much easier 2nd inning where he recorded the side in order with all groundouts. The same couldn’t be said for the bottom of the 3rd as the top of the lineup continued to get hits off of Harvey. Gardner started it off with another single and Judge followed it up with a proper double putting 2 men in scoring position with no one out. Harvey was able to strikeout Stanton, but Drury grounded out, scoring a run in the process making it 3-0 Yankees. The bottom of the 4th got retired in order with a strikeout and 2 groundouts. The bottom of the 5th was when Harvey ran into real trouble. After recording 2 outs, he walked Aaron Judge and gave up a 2-run homer to Stanton making the lead 5-1 Yankees. This would be the final blow for Harvey as he was taken out of the game after that. Going 4.2 Innings Pitched, Harvey gave up 6 hits, 5 runs, and exited with a 5.59 ERA. It wasn’t a pretty performance but like I said above, there were some plays that should have gotten Harvey out of trouble if they had been executed properly. But regardless, the power bats of the Yankees proved to be too much for Harvey.

On the upside, the Mets were able to combat the Yankees offense with some offense of their own. While it wasn’t enough to win them the game, they were able to get some hits and score some runs. Rosario hit a leadoff double in the top of the 1st but was left stranded after Lagares and Evans struck out and Flores grounded out. The top of the 2nd saw d’Arnaud draw a walk, followed by Tim Tebow doing the same. Bornstein hit a single which loaded the bases with 1-out. Amed Rosario came to bat but stuck out, followed by Lagares who suffered the same fate. In the top of the 4th the Mets were able to get on the board. Reyes hit a single and then proceeded to steal 2nd AND 3rd base getting himself into scoring position. d’Arnaud grounded out but Reyes was able to score making the score 3-1 Yankees. The top of the 5th saw Guillorme single, but he was caught trying to steal 2nd. Lagares then hit a double was out at 3rd trying to stretch it into a triple. The Mets would score again in the 6th after Flores hit a 1-out double, followed by a single courtesy of Jose Reyes. Flores would score making the game 2-5 Yankees. d’Arnaud would hit a single but himself and Reyes were left stranded after Bornstein and Tebow both struck out. The top of the 7th saw the Mets score for the final time of the day. Lagares drew a walk, Nimmo grounded out and ended up at 1st. A wild pitch then got the runner to 2nd and a single by Evans would score the run making it 3-7 Yankees. The Mets weren’t able to score anymore runs but they finished the game with 10 hits. The Mets were 3 for 12 with Runners in Scoring Position and had 10 runners left on base though which played a part in them not being able to score.

The bullpen was “ehh” to say the best. Montero (yeah, that Montero) was called on in the 5th after Harvey gave up the home run, Montero recorded the out and got them out of the inning. In the top of the 6th, Montero got 2 fly outs but then walked a batter and gave up a double. Matt Purke was then brought in to try and finish the inning but he allowed a double of his own allowing the Yankees to score their 7th run of the ball game. A wild pitch and a walk woud follow but Purke was able to get a ground out and avoid any more trouble. Jamie Callahan was then brought in for the 8th inning. In the 8th he gave up 2 singles and a force out which allowed the Yankees to score their 8th run. 2 more singles allowed them to score their 9th and a sac fly got in their 10th run. Montero continued to struggle, throwing 1 Inning, giving up 1 hit, walking one and allowing 2 runs, making his ERA 8.44 over 5.1 Innings Pitched. Callahan went 1.2 Innings Pitched, gave up 4 hits, 3 runs (2 Earned Runs) and struck out one making his ERA 6.75 over 6.2 Innings Pitched.

The game wasn’t a pretty one to watch. It was frustrating to see so many men get left on base and even more frustrating to see Montero and Callahan allow so many hits and runs to score. The final box score was 3 runs, 10 hits and 1 error by the Mets. 10 runs, 12 hits and 0 errors by the Yankees. Matt Harvey faced a tough line up but he’s got to buckle down and be ready for tough line ups because the Nationals and other teams in the NL won’t take it easy on him. If he can continue doing what he had been doing up to this point, he’ll be alright but he can’t let this start affect him too much. He knows what has to be worked on and he needs to work on it and not feel sorry for himself. Overall, I’m glad we only face the Yankee 4 times in the regular season.

Jacob deGrom was ready to take the mound for his first start of Spring Training as the Mets would once again do battle against the defending World Series Champions, the Houston Astros. deGrom was looking to continue his dominance from the 2017 season and looking to show everyone that his back issues were behind him (get it? Behind him? Because his back is behind him…ha..ha...) ANYWAY, the Mets also looked to take a win against the Astros who had boasted them 2 games to 1 (with 1 tie) through Spring Training thus far. Could the Mets triumph over the defending champs? Well, let’s take a look.

deGrom came out looking like he hadn’t missed a step, striking out the side on 15 pitches. deGrom was back and he was looking to put any doubts to rest. The top of the 2nd saw deGrom give up a single, a walk and a sac fly which allowed the Astros to score a run. Another sac fly would give up another run but a ground out got him out of anymore trouble. The top of the 3rd, deGrom got another strikeout and a fly out but he was up to 37 pitches and his pitch limit was probably 40, so skipper Callaway took deGrom out of the game replacing him with Sewald. There really isn’t too much to discuss here, deGrom looked great and despite a few hiccups in the 2nd inning he looked like he hadn’t missed a step and he looks to be on track with the rest of the team. Going 2.2 Innings Pitched, he allowed 2 hits, 2 runs, walked one and struck out 4. It was good performance by deGrom who is looking to prove that he’s still the Mets’ ace, opening day or not.

The Mets jumped out to an early lead when Cespedes cracked a 1-out home run to left field, his 3rd of Spring Training. Bruce would smack a double to get a runner into scoring position. Frazier would pop out making it 2 outs. Adrian Gonzalez drew a walk putting 2 men on for Cabrera who struck out to end the inning. But the Mets had jumped out to an early lead thanks to the home run by Cespedes who makes it look so easy. The Mets would score their 2nd and final run of the game in the 6th inning when Frazier got them started with a single, Gonzalez and Cabrera both struck out but Nimmo reached on a fielding error to put 2 men on with 2 outs. A single by Plawecki would plate Frazier, putting New York within a run of tying the game. The offense didn’t do much else in this game unfortunately. Nimmo did hit a ground rule double in the 4th, showing once more why he’s so valuable to the Mets’ lineup. Plawecki had 2 hits and continued to stay hot at the plate. Lagares would single in the 9th making him 1 for 5 on the day but other than that there wasn’t much to talk about. Lagares continues to come up short at the plate, striking out 3 times. Like the game before, the Mets were 1 for 10 with RISP and left 11 men on base. Situational hitting and being able to drive in runs is something the Mets need to get back to doing. It was a big part of what got them to the World Series in 2015 and something they were able to do better last season (despite only winning 70 games.)

It was a different bullpen look for the Mets this time around. After Paul Sewald came in to pitch the final out in the 3rd, Vargas took the mound for the 4th inning and would throw 4 Innings. He started his day off with a ground out, followed by a walk and a single but he was able to work around that with a strikeout and another ground out. He gave up a home run in the top of the 5th, but the wind was really carrying the ball and any other day it would’ve been a long out or possibly a double. He then allowed a single but got a double play to get the man off base. Another single would follow but he’d strike out the next batter giving him the final out of the inning. He walked another in the 7th but also struck out 2 as well as getting a pop out. He finished his day going 4 Innings Pitched, allowing 4 hits, 1 run, 3 walks and 5 strike outs. His ERA sits at 4.15 over 8.2 Innings Pitched. After Vargas was done for the day, Jacob Rhame came in for the 8th and worked around a double and a walk to get out of the inning with the Mets still within a run of the Astros. Kevin McGowan came in for the 9th and it wasn’t pretty at all. He gave up a leadoff single, the runner would steal 2nd to put a man in scoring position. He walked the next batter and recorded his first out with a strike out. A force out would score a run making it 4-2 Astros. Another single would score another run making it 5-2 and putting the Mets 3 runs away from the lead. McGowan threw 1 Inning, gave up 2 hits, 2 runs (1 earned because of a throwing error by Guillorme,) walked 1 and struck out 1 giving him an ERA of 27.00 through 4.1 Innings Pitched. McGowan hasn’t been impressive thus far and one could argue that if he hadn’t let the lead increase, the Mets might have been able to rally and tie (or possibly win) the game in the bottom of the 9th. Other than that though, Vargas looked great out of the pen, as did Sewald (for his one out performance) and Rhame did a good job working around the double.

So overall, other than deGrom pitching like he hasn’t missed a step and Cespedes cracking homeruns, this game was pretty lackluster for the Mets. They had 8 hits but couldn’t drive in the runs when needed and that ultimately lead to them losing. Nimmo stayed hot with a double, Plawecki stayed hot going 2 for 3, but other than that it was a disappointing game to watch as the Mets drop another one to the Astros.

The Mets would face the Astros once again and once again they were looking for retribution and looking to get a win against the defending World Series Champions. Noah Syndergaard would be making his 4th start of the Spring Training season and would be facing the Astro’s newest pitcher, Gerrit Cole. A great pitching matchup and one we will probably only see in Spring Training now that Cole is in the American League. Since the Mets had a game later in the day against the Washington Nationals, the lineup was a little thin. This game wasn’t televised so there’s a few things I didn’t get to see (like a balk that we’ll talk about later) but for the most part, the radio does it justice as does the ‘At Bat’ app. Without any further ado, let’s get into it.

Syndergaard took the mound and was looking to continue his Spring Training dominance. He started the day off by striking out World Series’ MVP George Springer and then getting the next 2 outs via a fly and ground out. He’d give up a leadoff single to Carlos Correa in the 2nd and walk Evan Gattis to put 2 men on with no outs. He’d strike out Reed but give up a single to J.D. Davis which loaded the bases with only 1-out. But Syndergaard wasn’t backing down as he struck out the next 2 batters he faced and escaped trouble to keep the Astros off the board. It was trouble once again though in the top of the 3rd as Syndergaard gave up a leadoff walk to George Springer. He’d get the first out by getting Reddick to ground out but a walk to Altuve would put 2 men on. An error by Jose Reyes would allow Correa to reach base, filling them for the 2nd inning in a row. Evan Gattis hit a single against the shift which scored Springer and Altuve, the throw back in would get away from the catcher (this is what they said on the radio, but it wasn’t marked as an Error on the official box score so I’m not 100% sure what happened here) but Gattis fell trying to get to 2nd base which allowed Syndergaard to throw him out at 1st. He’d end the inning by striking out Reed. Allowing 2 runs to score on a bases loaded situation, although only one of them were earned. The top of the 4th started with a single to JD Davis but the bases were cleared on a Double Play. Marsinick reached on an Error by Guillorme, but Springer would ground out which avoided any damage. Syndergaard would exit the game in the 5th but not before he recorded the first 2 outs by getting Reddick and Altuve to fly out. That would be it for Syndergaard as he reached his pitch limit and despite a few walks, it was another impressive outing by Thor. Going 4.2 Innings Pitched, he allowed 4 hits, 1 earned run, 3 walks and struck out 5. He sports a 1.38 ERA over his 4 starts. It was announced later in the day that he’d get the ball for Opening Day, the first Mets pitcher to start on Opening Day back to back since Johan Santana in 2009 and 2010. But that’s a whole different story. As for his performance on this day, he looked good and got around some hiccups by his defense to keep the game from being a blowout.

Guys…it’s Nimmo time. Brandon Nimmo hit a leadoff Home run to get the Mets on the board early with a 1-0 lead. Honestly, at this point if Nimmo doesn’t get to be the starting Center Fielder on Opening Day I don’t know what world I live in. He’s the leadoff hitter the Mets need and he offers more than Juan Lagares does and really he just deserves it. But enough of that rant, back to the offense. Travis d’Arnaud would single with 2 out in the 1st but was left on base by Jose Reyes. So, in the bottom of the 3rd inning, Guillorme reached by balls on base and when Nimmo was at bat, Guillorme took off when Nimmo had worked the count full. But Nimmo would ultimately strike out and Guillorme was thrown out at 2nd. For a guy who only stole 4 bases last season in the minors, it was real ballsy to have him take off like that. I get that the count was full but Gerrit Cole is a serious pitcher and you can’t count that Nimmo would get that hit. But, but, but, that’s a different story and I’m not a manager or a baseball player so I really shouldn’t be talking I suppose. d’Arnaud would reach base again in the 4th, this time drawing a walk. Reyes popped out but Phil Evans was able to hit a single to get 2 men on base. Tim Tebow struck out, as did Cecchini, leaving the men stranded on base. In the bottom of the 5th Guillorme hit a leadoff single. Nimmo would strike out, but Bruce smacked a single to get 2 men on with 1-out. With Adrian Gonzalez at the plate, Guillorme would attempt to steal 3rd and was thrown out. Really, I don’t know why Guillorme is trying to swipe bases…since the game wasn’t televised I can’t really tell what exactly was happening that he thought it’d be a good idea but he was thrown out again and then Gonzalez popped out to end the inning. Questionable decision by Guillorme (or Callaway, or whoever was telling him to try and swipe the base.) Evans would hit another single in the 9th inning but Tebow struck out, Cecchini popped out and Guillorme grounded out to end the game with the Mets on the receiving end of another loss. Having 7 hits and 1 run, Nimmo went 1 for 3, Bruce 2 for 3, d’Arnaud 1 for 2 (with a walk), Evans 2/4, Gonzalez, Reyes, Tebow and Cecchini all going 0 for 4. Tebow was the recipient of the Golden Sombrero, striking out each time he was at the plate. I think my least favorite part of split squad games is that Tebow is at the plate for most of the game. I don’t hate Tebow, I admire his dedication but I mean…come on. The team went 0 for 4 with Runners in Scoring Position and left 8 men on base. Like I said, that is something they NEED to work on.

It’s bullpen time!! Okay, so after Syndergaard threw his 4.2 Innings, Gsellman came out of the pen for some relief work. In his first full inning of work, he gave up a single to Reed who would advance to 2nd on a ground out by Davis and was eventually brought in by Federowicz on a 1-out RBI Single, extending the Astro’s lead to 3-1. A fly out and a strike out would get him out of the inning. AJ Ramos then came in for the 7th inning and walked Tony Kemp to lead off the inning. Mayfield would ground out, advancing Kemp to 2nd. A balk by Ramos would put Kemp on 3rd (Like I said, I didn’t get to see the balk so I’m not sure if it was a real balk or a mistaken balk that tends to happen sometimes. I don’t know.) Either way, the balk didn’t really make a difference because he gave up a 2-run homer to De Gotis to make it 5-1 Astros. He struck out the next 2 batters and got out of the inning without allowing anymore runs to score. Jerry Blevins came in for the 8th and did what Jerry Blevins does, he struck out one and got a force out and a line out. Purke was called on for the 9th inning and after getting a strikeout to start the inning, he walked Kemp who’d still 2nd and reach 3rd on an error by Lobaton. Mayfield hit a single and scored Kemp making it 6-1. A double play would get him out of the inning but the score was set. Overall, the bullpen wasn’t all that bad. Other than the Home run given up by Ramos, everyone did a decent enough job. I mean Gsellman gave up a run but it wasn’t enough to completely take the Mets out of the game. Gsellman’s line for the day was 1.1 IP, 3H, 1R, 1K and he now sports a 3.60 ERA. Ramos went 1IP, 1H, 2ER, 1BB, 1HR and sports a 4.05 ERA. Blevins had 1IP and 1K, he sports a 3.60 ERA. Purke had 1IP, 1H, 1R, 1BB, 1K and now sports a 2.25 ERA.

Syndergaard continues to impress and has been very impressive this spring. Nimmo continues to impress as the leadoff man and truly deserves to be the starting Center Fielder. Ramos giving up the homer is a little scary since he’s going to be a set up guy/closer but sometimes those guys don’t pitch well when they’re not pitching late in the game. As I’m writing this I just learned that Tim Tebow was reassigned and that’s a very good idea, he’s really not ready to be at a Major League camp. Overall, the Mets suffered another loss which is never a good thing, but the guys who needed to shine, did. And that’s Syndergaard, Bruce, Nimmo, Gsellman and d’Arnaud. The 3 errors aren’t pretty, and Reyes needs to settle down and get things under control if he wants to be an effective part of the infield and the lineup. Hopefully the Mets can avoid another loss later tonight when they take on their Division Rivals, the Washington Nationals.

The Mets would face their Division Rivals, the Washington Nationals later in the day. Not only would they have to face the bats of Harper and Rendon, but they’d have to deal with their Ace, the 5x All-Star, 3x Cy Young Award Winner, the dominant Max Scherzer. It’d be a preview for what ESPN will bill as “A COLLISION IN THE DIVISION” that we’ll see later in the regular season. It was time to see if the Mets could topple the National’s dominant ace and if Wheeler could impress like he did in his last outing against the Yankees.

Wheeler took the mound looking to prove that he should be in the Mets’ starting rotation but unfortunately that didn’t happen and he set himself back quite a bit during this outing. From the second he took the mound, the Nationals were all over him. He walked Turner who would swipe 2nd, he then walked Harper who would perform a double steal with Turner while Wheeler pitched to Rendon. With runners on 2nd and 3rd and only 1-out, Rendon hit a sac fly and scored the first run of the game. Goodwin followed it up with a single making it 2-0 in the 1st inning. Wieters and Robles would follow up with 2-out singles of their own making it a 3 run 1st for the Nationals. The inability to control his runners didn’t help Wheeler at all here and he threw a lot of pitches just to get out of the 1st inning which has been something we’ve seen a lot out of Wheeler. He was able to get 3 quick outs in the bottom of the 2nd though with 2 groundouts and a strikeout. The bottom of the 3rd however wasn’t pretty…at all. Harper led off with a single and was moved to second on a single by Rendon. Goodwin would force out moving the runners to 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Wieters would single again scoring another run and making it 4-0. After a fly out, Marmolejos would hit a 2-out single and score the 5th run of the game. Wheeler got out of the inning after he barely avoided walking Scherzer and instead got him to strike out looking. But that would be it for Wheeler. Mickey Callaway looked visibly annoyed from the dugout (at least that’s the way I interpreted it.) Going 3 Innings, Wheeler gave up 7 hits and allowed 5 runs to score. He walked 2 and struck out 3 as well. He now sports an ERA of 6.75 over 8 Innings Pitched…not exactly the way to win a spot in the rotation and honestly at this point I don’t know if Wheeler is useful at all, even out of the bullpen. With guys like Lugo, Gsellman, Rhame and others looking quite good out of the pen, Wheeler really doesn’t offer much and frankly I think the Mets are better off without him but there is still time left to see what happens.

The offense was very, very, very scarce until Scherzer got out of the game and even then there wasn’t much going on. The Mets got 1 hit off of Scherzer through his 5 Innings of work and 9 of them fell victim to the strikeout. The only hit they got was a double by Amed Rosario in the top of the 4th inning but that was all. Scherzer was absolutely dominant on the mound and the Mets need to find a way to strike against him. If it was a regular season game, Scherzer could have gone another 3 innings if the Mets hit the way they were during this game. Of course there were some notable bats missing from the lineup (Bruce, Reyes, Cespedes, etc.) At one point during the broadcast the commentators spoke with Kevin Long, who was the Mets hitting coach for a few years and is now the hitting coach for Washington. Long said that when working with Mets’ hitters, they would say they’d have to strike against Scherzer early or hope he makes a mistake. Unfortunately for them, he didn’t make any mistakes and they didn’t strike early. Once Scherzer gets in his groove, there really isn’t much hitters can do. But after Scherzer left the game, Chris Smith came in and set down the Mets in order. But in the 7th is when the Mets were able to strike a bit. Ryan Madson came in and looked to keep the Mets off the board but a 2-out rally was on the way. Singles by Flores and Plawecki would allow Den Dekker to hit another single to score the Mets’ first run of the game. Dekker would swipe 2nd base getting himself into scoring position as well. Kaczmarski hit a 2-out single of his own and scored 2 more making it a 7-3 game. The Mets final run of the game came from a home run smacked to left field by Rosario. It was impressive power by the young shortstop who got the team within 3 runs in the 8th inning against Benoit. Unfortunately, the Mets couldn’t rally anymore and their final box score was 4 runs and 7 hits. Like I said before, the Mets need to learn how to strike against pitchers like Scherzer early because in a regular season game, Scherzer would’ve pitched another 3 innings against the Mets at the rate he was going.

The bullpen was good for where it mattered but there was sore spot that sticks out amongst the 0’s that were put up. Lugo came in for 1.1 Innings and allowed 1 hit and a walk but no runs. Corey Taylor pitched 0.2 Innings of his own and didn’t allow any hits, walks or runs. AJ Griffin came in for an inning of work and gave up 2 hits, 2 runs, a walk and a strikeout. It was Griffin who put the game far out of reach for the Mets. If he hadn’t given up those 2 runs, it’d be a 5-4 ball game (if Rosario still hit that home run) and the Mets may have been able to rally. Robles came in for the final 2 innings of the game and only allowed 1 hit. Striking out 2, Robles looked great and kept the Nationals from scoring any further. Robles really looked completely different than he did in his last outing where he allowed 4 runs on 5 hits in 1 inning of work against the Tigers. If Robles can be consistent and have more performances like this one, his spot in the bullpen will be locked in for sure. But, there is still a lot of Spring Training baseball left and he’ll need to prove that he deserves the spot more than young guys like Gsellman, Lugo and Purke.

When all was said and done, Zack Wheeler didn’t strengthen his case for a spot in the rotation and truthfully, in the bullpen either. There were rumors going around that if Matz wasn’t a starter he’d be pitching in AAA and I think the same should go for Wheeler. I was all for him being a long relief pitcher but at this point I don’t know what he really offers the team in either role. But there is still time left for Wheeler to turn around, but at this moment I’m not impressed. Also this game was a preview of what the Mets will have to deal with all season long and that’s the Nationals and Max Scherzer. If the Mets want to be contenders, they need to learn how to combat their division rivals and their dominant ace. I’m not sure if the Mets will be seeing Scherzer again until the regular season but if they do, they need to change their approach greatly and get to him early. The Mets drop their 4th game in a row, but it wasn’t ALL bad.

Much like Zack Wheeler, Steven Matz is also fighting for a spot in the rotation after a strong performance in his last outing. The Mets would be looking to snap a 4 game losing streak and get a win over the Marlins. Could Matz continue to look good enough to solidify himself as a starting pitcher and if the offense could come alive and help the team get a win. Let’s dive into what happened.

Matz looked pretty bad in the bottom of the 1st inning and it looked like it’d be a disastrous outing to put him out of the rotation race. Giving up a leadoff walk to Sierra, Matz would give up a single to Rojas to put 2 men on base. He was able to get a strikeout and a fly out but he issued another walk, this time to Maybin which would load the bases. Dietrich would come through with a 2-out single to give the Marlins a 2-0 lead. Matz’s control was all off in the 1st. 9 of his first 13 pitches were all balls. But like Mickey Callaway said after the game, Matz must’ve told himself “enough is enough” and he went out there and took care of business. He put down the side in order in the 2nd with 2 strike outs and a ground out. Coming back for more in the 3rd, Matz got a ground out but gave up a single to Castro but Justin Bour would ground into a Double Play to get Matz out of the inning unscathed. In the bottom of the 4th Matz issued a 1-out walk to Dietrich but struck out and got a line out to get out of the inning again, unscathed. Matz would record his final out of the day in the 5th inning where he got the first out via a strike out before getting taken out of the game as he had already exceeded his pitch limit. After a rough 1st inning, Matz was able to recover and still manage to have a good outing. After throwing more than 30 pitches in the 1st inning alone, Matz only needed 77 total pitches for his 4 1/3 innings pitched. His line score had him with 3 hits, 2 runs, 3 walks and 5 strike outs. He now sports a 10.80 ERA but his last 2 starts have been drastically better than his first 2 starts. Unfortunately, the game wasn’t televised so there’s no vides of Matz performance but it sounds like he really buckled down and got himself back into the game. Picking himself back up after that rough outing is something that’s always great to see as a lot of pitchers have trouble bouncing back from a bad inning. But Matz was determined and had a good outing despite the 1st inning.

The Mets offense was pretty limited, Adrian Gonzalez got their first hit in the 1st inning with a 2-out single but was left on base after Evans struck out. The top of the 2nd looked like the Mets had a chance to score some runs after d’Arnaud and Guillorme both got on base via the walk but were stranded when Cecchini struck out, Ty Kelly flew out and Steven Matz grounded out. What has become a reoccurring theme this past week, the Mets are leaving their runners in scoring position and/or stranding them on base all together. Bruce would try to get something started with a 1-out single in the 3rd, but Gonzalez grounded into a double play and the inning was over. Fantastic. Guillorme would also try to get things going in the 4th when he hit a 2-out single but Cecchini flew out and the inning was once again, over. FANTASTIC. After Dan Straily left the game, Brad Ziegler came in for some relief pitching. He gave up a base hit to Gonzalez but Evans would this time ground into a double play and leave another man on base. F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C. (Alright I’ll stop with the “fantastic” now.) Guillorme, who was a bright spot in the offense would single again in the 7th. The Mets would finally get on the board in the top of the 9th. JJ Franco (The son of former Major League relief pitcher, John Franco) would hit a leadoff single in hopes of starting a rally. Phil Evans was hit by a pitch to put 2 men on. A fly out by Lobaton would record the 1st out of the inning. Guillorme would reach via a walk and after Cecchini struck out, Ty Kelly would walk in JJ Franco for the first run. But Giminez would line out and end the game, giving the Mets their 5th consecutive loss. The Mets had 7 hits throughout the game but left 8 men on base and went 0-7 with runners in scoring position. I believe I addressed this in a previous game review (I don’t remember which one, I’ve been writing a lot and my brain is giving up on me) but the Mets NEED to get in the habit of situational hitting. They were able to do in 2015, towards the tail end of 2016 and for most of 2017 (despite the losing season.) It’s crucial for a team to be able to get their men across to score, especially in such a competitive division and a league full of teams that are trying to contend for the post season. Hopefully this is a bad habit that the Mets can drop before starting the regular season. Nimmo went 0 for 4 which made me sad, but even Yogi Berra had off days. Cecchini also went 0 for 4. Evans and Kelly went 0 for 3, although Kelly did have the only RBI for the Mets with his walk in the 9th. Bruce went 1 for 3, A-Gon 2 for 3 and d’Arnaud went 1 for 3. But the bright spot of the box score was Guillorme who had 4 plate appearances and reached base every time. He had 2 hits and 2 walks, and he continues to impress in Spring Training. Overall, it’s the same old story for the Mets offense this Spring Training, they need to hit with RISP and stop leaving their men on base.

Bullpen time and it was not good. Montero came in to finish the 5th after Matz departed and he gave up a single to the second batter he faced and a double to Castro. Rojas tried scoring on the double but was thrown out at home. Nimmo threw to Guillorme, who threw to d’Arnaud and they had the runner out at home, saving Montero another Earned Run…for now. In the 6th inning, Montero walked Bour who was pinch ran for by Shuck who stole 2nd. Maybin then walked and Dietrich singled to load the bases with no outs. Montero then hit Walich with a pitch which drove in another run making it 3-0 Miami. Montero’s line score was an unimpressive, 0.2 Innings Pitched, 3 Hits, 2 Runs, 2 Walks and now sports a 10.50 ERA. Paul Sewald was called on for damage control and a sac fly was hit to score a run making it 4-0. Sewald was able to get a pop out and a strikeout to end the inning without any more damage being done. Sewald pitched the bottom of the 7th, giving up a triple and a single that scored another run making it 5-0. He gave up another single but was able to get a double play and a fly out to get out of the inning. Sewald’s line score continued to look good with 2 Innings Pitched, 3 Hits, 1 Run, 1 Strikeout and now sports a 2.16 ERA, being a bright spot out of the Mets’ bull pen. Jacob Rhame came in for the bottom of the 8th and despite an error by Franco, nobody reached and it was another impressive outing by Rhame as well. Who went 1 Inning, giving up no hits, no runs, no walks and 1 strike out. Now sporting a 2.57 ERA. And that was it, the Mets bullpen gave up 3 runs (2 of them from Montero and 1 from Sewald.) Montero continues to do himself no favors as he continues to prove he can’t be reliable out of the bull pen and he certainly has done nothing to earn a spot as a starter. I think it’s time the Mets cut Montero lose. The Mets have been waiting for Montero to get good since 2014 and he hasn’t. Cutting him lose is their best option because he’s just going to take up a spot in the Majors that should go to someone else.

I don’t know what else to say about this game. Matz overcame his rough 1st inning and was able to look good but other than that the Mets are looking quite troubling this Spring Training. I’m aware that it’s still Spring Training and a lot of the key guys haven’t been playing every day, but it’s still worth noting that even their everyday guys aren’t able to hit with guys in RISP and that’s something that has to be fixed. Sewald looked fine, Rhame looked good, Montero didn’t. That’s 5 losses in a row now.

Alright folks, it’s time to cover the final game of the week (well, my week.) I’ll be honest, this was a lot of writing and my fingers are ready to fall off. It was Harvey taking the mound looking to have a good outing after his rough one against the Yankees last time out. Could the Mets snap a 5 game losing streak? Would they score with Runners in Scoring Position? Well if you didn’t watch the game, I’m here to tell you all those answers.

Harvey had an interesting outing in this game. He got to pitch 5 Innings but at one point it didn’t look like he’d be able to. He went through the side in order in the top of the 1st, recording 2 strike outs in the process. He got in and out of trouble in the 2nd thanks to some great field work by Kevin Plawecki. Harvey gave up 2 back to back 1-out singles and had runners at the corners with 1-out. After a wild pitch got away from Plawecki, Brinson who was at 3rd, tried coming home and was quite close to doing so but Plawecki rolled over to his side, grabbed the mall and tossed it back to Harvey who applied the tag to get the out. It was really a great play and I really suggest you watch it for yourself because my writing doesn’t do it justice. Would it hold up if replay was around in Spring Training? Eh, it’s hard to say but it was impressive nonetheless and kept a run from scoring. Harvey then struck out Dias to end the 2nd inning. The 3rd inning is where Harvey ran into trouble though. After giving a leadoff single to Rivera, Harvey walked the Pitcher Dillon Peters after he had him in a 0-2 count. This was followed up by a base hit by Shuck which scored a run making it 1-0 Miami. Lee tried to advance the runners via the bunt but Plawecki played the ball great and threw out the lead runner at 3rd. With runners at 1st and 2nd, Harvey got Anderson to fly out but Telis would hit a 2-out single to score another run. And another wild pitch would score a 3rd run making it 3-0 Miami. Harvey got a force out for the 3rd out and got out of the inning without any more issues. But much like Matz the day earlier, Harvey picked himself up and pitched 2 more scoreless innings. He struck out the final 5 batters he faced. Finishing the day strong with 5 Innings Pitched, 6 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk and 8 strike outs. He now sports a 5.52 ERA over his 4 starts and while this start wasn’t perfect, he was able to avoid a lot of trouble and struck out the most batters by a Mets pitcher this Spring Training.

The offense in this game was really, really, really weird. I’m going to do my best to explain it. Alright so Flores got the first hit for the Mets in the top of the 2nd but was caught stealing with Rosario batting. I’m trying to find out exactly why he tried stealing 2nd. Flores has 3 steals in his career and 1 of them was from last year but he’s not a notorious base stealer by any means. The Mets second hit wouldn’t come until the bottom of the 5th inning with a Juan Lagares single. Cabrera and Frazier would hit back to back 2-out singles in the bottom of the 6th but were stranded after a Plawecki fly out. Rosario would reach on a single in the bottom of the 7th, Juan Lagares walked to put 2 men on. Kelly would fly out and Lobaton would strike out to end the inning. The Mets would get on the board in the bottom of the 8th after Cecchini reach on an error. Plawecki would reach via a 2-out walk. Flores and Rosario would also be walked, scoring a run and making it 6-1. The bottom of the 9th was absolutely wild. Ty Kelly hit a leadoff single and then Mora and Dekker would both reach on walks, loading the bases with no one out. Don Mattingly would make a pitching change, only for Cecchini to be walked, bringing in another run. This trend continued as Guillorme and Nido were both walked, making it 7-4. Flores hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Cecchini and making it 7-5 with 1 out. Rosario would hit a bloop single and put the Mets within a run of tying the game. Juan Lagares hit a ball that should have been a double play ball, but he’d reach on an error. Glen Sherlock would send the runner home but he was out by a mile, making it 7-6 with 2 outs. Kelly would ground out and end the game as the Mets rally just fell short. It was a wild ride and the Mets came very close to tying the game and potentially winning it. It wasn’t pretty, but it works. The Mets finished with 6 runs, 7 hits and 2 errors.

The bullpen wasn’t really all that bad but there were a few defensive hiccups that made things hard for AJ Ramos in the 8th. Before Ramos came in, Familia and Blevins both threw scoreless innings keeping the score at 3-0. Ramos came in for the 8th and gave up a leadoff single that would end up at 3rd after an error by Plawecki who was trying to throw the runner out at 2nd. Campbell would double and score a run making it 4-0. A sac bunt and a double would make it 5-0, An error by Guillorme would score another run making it 6-0. Ramos wasn’t perfect but he didn’t get any breaks from his defense either. Ramos would have 1 Inning Pitch, 3 hits, 3 runs (2 earned) and now he has a 5.87 ERA. Purke came in for the 9th and give up 2 hits, a walk and a run over his 1 inning and now sports a 3.65 ERA.

Honestly the game was very frustrating to watch, there were 11 runners left on base and they went 1 for 7 with Runners in Scoring Position. A trend that NEEDS to stop. I can’t stress that enough. Harvey was impressive despite his rough 3rd inning. Like I said it wasn’t a pretty game, but it got entertaining in the 8th and 9th innings with all the walks and possible rally. I know this has been a very short post about the game, but I am completely burnt out from writing and this game was a lot to handle.

Well, there it is. Week 2 of Spring Training reviewed and recapped. This turned into a longer post than I had anticipated but I supposed that’s what happens when you review a week worth of baseball games. It’s unfortunate that so many of these games ended in losses for the Mets but let’s just hope that they can turn it around by the time the regular season starts. Thanks for reading and I’ll talk to you soon. As always, leave a comment below, reach out to me on twitter @Keiths_Mustache or send me an email at KeithsMustacheBlog@gmail.com

From now on, I’m going to post on Thursdays doing a recap of games, covering Friday to Thursday. This week it’s going to be Monday to Thursday since I just posted on Sunday. But next week will be the proper start to the recapping series. I’m planning on doing game by game recaps and highlighting the things that stood out to me most. I’ve been keeping a handwritten log of each game (typically as they happen, although there will be a few instances when I have work or school, where I’ll have to go back and look at the box score and highlights.) But, for this week I’ve been able to record all the games as they happen in my trusty notebook and hopefully I can give you all a proper recap of this week in New York Mets’ baseball.

We’ve got to start this game off by talking about Matt Harvey who so far this spring looks like the Harvey is getting back on track. In this outing, he went 3 Innings Pitched, 2 Hits, 0 Runs, 1 Walk and 1 Strikeout. There were some questionable calls by the home plate umpire Ben May. At one point during the 2nd inning with 2 outs and 2 strikes, he called a pitch by Harvey (that was clearly a strike) a ball. It wouldn’t lead to anything other than a few extra pitches being thrown, but Harvey was clearly displeased (as were all the umpires in the stands.) But Harvey looked confident as he recorded outs and if he can keep having these impressive outings and bring them over to the regular season, he could very well be on his way to having a comeback season.

Alright, spoiler alert…there is going to be a lot of Brandon Nimmo praise during these game recaps. But it’s not my fault, the kid is that damn good. Every time I think he’s impressed me as much as possible, he raises the bar and does it again. Hitting lead off, Nimmo smacked a home run to open the bottom half of the 1st inning, adding to his own stock and giving his pitcher a lead to work with. Following Nimmo’s home run, Reyes reached 2nd base on a fielding error but was thrown out trying to steal 3rd base. Flores would walk with 2 outs, and then Fiers would plunk Plawecki putting 2 men on base for Travis d’Arnaud. d’Arnaud smacked a double and scored Flores giving the Mets an early 2-0 lead. Flores would hit a double of his own in the bottom of the 3rd, continuing his trend of solid hitting against right handers.

In the bottom of the 7th inning, the Mets would add on to their lead when Jose Reyes hit a 2-out double to right field, scoring Brandon Nimmo (who walked earlier in the inning) and Patrick Biondi (who had a single of his own) giving the Mets a 4-0 lead over the Tigers. Offensively it was good to see the Mets score some runs on the long ball and coming through with runners in scoring position.

Now it’s time to talk about the bullpen’s performance in this game. Familia was the first guy out of the pen, replacing Matt Harvey in the top of the 4th inning. It was a solid appearance by Familia, despite giving up a single and walking a batter, he was able to record 3 outs without any blemishes. Familia is rarely ever lights out and he’s known to make Mets’ fans bite their finger nails while he flirts with giving up the lead or blowing a save, but he was able to work around any trouble which is what matters at the end of the day. Next up was AJ Ramos who along with Familia will likely be closing games this season (since Callaway has said he’s not locked in on having one closer) came in and threw a 1-2-3 bottom of the 5th. Paul Sewald, who was a pleasant surprise in the Mets’ bullpen last season came in during the bottom of the 6th and also had himself a 1-2-3 inning, recording a strikeout in the process. That was it for the guys who are locks for making the Opening Day roster and together they had 3 innings of scoreless baseball. Jacob Rhame who had a brief stint in the Majors at the end of last season made an appearance and worked around a 2 out single to keep the Tigers off the board in the 7th. Drew Smith would give up a couple of hits in the 9th inning, allowing the Tigers to score a run. Drew Gagnon came in to relieve Smith and despite a sac-fly, he was able to close out the game and get the win for the Mets with a final score of 4-2.

The Mets who hadn’t won a game since February 28th were able to get back in the win column thanks to some solid pitching by Matt Harvey and the bullpen, along with some big hits by guys like Nimmo, d’Arnaud and Reyes.

Following an excellent pitching performance by Matt Harvey and the key players in the Mets’ bullpen, Jason Vargas was ready to take the mound against the Defending World Series’ Champions, the Houston Astros. For a Spring Training game, this one was a rollercoaster of a game.

Following the format of the last game, we’re going to talk about the Starting Pitcher’s performance. Vargas gave up a leadoff walk to World Series’ MVP George Spring, who was taking a pretty big lead off of first base. Vargas picked up on the lead and picked off Springer who was run down by Adrian Gonzalez. Granted, Springer didn’t bother putting up much of a race, it was still very refreshing to see a Mets pitcher control the base runners. Being unable to control baserunners has been an issue for Mets’ pitchers, most notably for the Mets’ ace Noah Syndergaard. So, seeing Vargas do it was a sigh of relief. And he wasn’t done there. In the 2nd inning, Vargas hit Derek Fisher with a pitch. The hit was actually pretty scary, bouncing off of his shoulder and then hitting his helmet, Vargas walked to the plate almost immediately. Thankfully Fisher was able to walk it off and took 1st base. J.D. Davis singled putting Fisher on 2nd. And while Vargas probably felt terrible about hitting Fisher, it wasn’t going to stop him from giving him the same treatment as everyone else. With Fisher taking a big lead off of 2nd base, Vargas PICKED HIM OFF TOO. Let me tell you guys something; I don’t think I’ve ever got so excited over pick offs in a game before. But I’ve grown so use to runners stealing bases off of our pitchers that seeing them get picked off is basically the equivalent of a walk-off (wink, wink.) Vargas ended up giving 2 runs in the 3rd, but he still had an impressive performance against a dominant line up in the Houston Astros.

It’s offense time and boy was there a lot of it. The Mets and Astros went back and forth time and time again in this game and it was awesome. The scoring started early too. Nimmo walked to get on base, Gonzalez smacked a double to right field that put Nimmo on 3rd. Bruce hit a pop fly and scored Nimmo giving the Mets a 1-0 lead early. In the 2nd, Cabrera reached on a fielding error, Flores got him to 2nd with a double and a groundout by d’Arnaud put both men in scoring position. Ty Kelly would also groundout, scoring Cabrera and giving the Mets a 2-0 lead. Like I said in the paragraph above, Vargas gave up 2 runs to the Astros, tying the game at 2 a piece. In the bottom of the 3rd, Cespedes hit a bomb off of McHugh to center field giving the Mets the lead once again at 3-2. The Astros tied the game again in the 4th (which will be discussed when I discuss the bullpen.) The Astros would take the lead in the 7th going up 4-3 but the Mets answered back quickly. Tomas Nido (who will also be talked about a little later on) smacked a leadoff home run to tie the game once again. BUT, the Astros answered back once more with some small ball, giving them a 5-4 lead. BUT WAIT, Luis Guillorme hit a single that scored Kevin Kaczmarski, tying the game at 5 a piece. The game remained tied heading into the bottom of the 9th. Would this game end in a tie like it did the last time they played the Astros, or would the Mets pull through and get the win? Andres Gimenez (who literally looks like he could be 12 years old) hit a 1-out single to get the offense started. Patrick Biondi followed it up with a single of his own putting the winning run in scoring position. A walk to Matt den Dekker loaded up the bases with only 1-out. Phillip Evans came up to the plate. The game was on the line, would he ground into a double play? Would he pop one up? What would happen? Well, Mr. Evans hit a fly ball to deep left center field, everyone thought it’d be a sac fly that would win the game (even the TV crew put up a camera of the runner on 3rd) but the ball would keep going, right over the wall. That’s right, a walk-off grand slam. Phillip Evans came through big time and won the game for the Mets. I was in class taking notes and watching the game on my phone in between PowerPoint slides and I almost had to excuse myself I was so blown away by it. But in the end I just tweeted “EVANS!!!!!” Which pretty much summed up my reaction.

Okay, so yeah we covered a lot of the offense but let’s take a moment to discuss the bullpen performance. Seth Lugo was the first one out of the bullpen, relieving Vargas in the 3rd. Lugo got the 3rd out with a ground ball that popped up and almost flew over Lugo’s head, but Lugo showed that he had “hops” and snagged it out of the air, threw it over to first base and got the out. Lugo pitched 3 and 1/3 innings, giving up 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk and 2 Strike Outs. Despite the run, Lugomania was running wild all over the Houston Astros, BROTHER. Oh yeah, he also picked off a runner on 1st…maybe it was PICKOFFMANIA. After Lugo, Hansel Robles came in and well…he did what Hansel Robles sometimes does…giving up a leadoff home run to Kyle Tucker which gave the Astros the lead for the time being. But he got through the inning without any other blemishes thankfully. After Robles, Jamie Callahan came in and gave up a run, which gave the Astros the lead again. Tyler Bashlor came in for the 9th and was given the task of keeping the game tied. He gave up a 1-out walk to Michael Papierski who hadn’t learned from his other team mates and tried stealing 2nd base, but Tomas Nido THREW HIM OUT. The runners had no chance of getting passed the catchers and pitchers in this game. Honestly I think the pick offs and thrown out runners was my favorite part of the game. While Callahan and Bashlor likely won’t be on the Opening Day roster, Lugo and Robles likely will be. And with Lugo continuing to impress as a starter and out of the pen, he’s certaintly an arm that Mickey Callaway can count on. Robles has been fine up until this game and one home run isn’t going to make me turn sour on him…yet.

Wednesday March 7th 2018: New York Yankees @ New York Mets (Wheeler vs Germán)

It’s only March but we were given a very small preview of the Subway Series. Although a lot of the Yankee’s big bats were missing (Stanton, Judge and Sanchez) we were still treated to a great game of baseball. Sadly, though the Yankees would take this one and I don’t think I’ve ever been angrier at a Spring Training game in my life. But, we’ll get to that. Let’s start off with Zack Wheeler who is still trying to prove that he’s worthy of a spot in the rotation.

Wheeler who was making his 2nd start of the season, took the mound with a purpose. Attempting to prove that he was capable of being a reliable starter for skipper Mickey Callaway, Wheeler had his best outing this spring. Through his 4 innings of work, Wheeler gave up 4 hits but no runs and struck out 4 throwing 48 pitches in the process. Giving up a single in the first, two more in the 2nd and another in the 3rd, Wheeler worked around any serious trouble and looked good in the process, which gives Mets management a lot to consider on Wheeler’s future (although there is a lot of Spring Training left.)

Germán held the Mets without a hit until the 3rd inning when Cabrera hit a single that put d’Arnaud (who walked earlier in the inning) on second base with 2 away. Another walk was issued to Cespedes which filled the bases. Jay Bruce was able to reach base on an error by Yankee’s center fielder Estevan Florial. 2 runs would score in the process giving the Mets an early 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the 4th the Mets would tack on another run courtesy of a home run by Travis d’Arnaud giving the Mets a 3-1 lead. The next Mets’ run would come in the bottom of the 6th inning where Adrian Gonzalez got the inning started with a single. We were then introduced to Wilmer who pinch-ran for Gonzalez. (Keith was very happy to see Wilmer, saying his name in such a warm way that only he could do.) Reyes grounded out but avoided the Double Play by getting to 1st base. Phillip Evans would come in as a pinch-runner for Jose Reyes. Travis d’Arnaud stayed hot, hitting a single which got Phillips to 3rd on a fielding error. With 1-out and 2 men on, Juan Lagares grounded into a force out scoring Evans and reaching 1st. That would be all the scoring for the Mets and sadly…it wouldn’t be enough. And now it’s time to talk about why.

Alright, so after Wheeler, Robert Gsellman came in to pitch relief. Gsellman gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the 4th when a passed ball by d’Arnaud advanced Tyler Austin (who singled previously) to 3rd base. That would be the only run allowed while Gsellman was on the mound. With 3.2 Innings Pitched, Gsellman allowed 2 hits, 1 walk and 1 unearned run. Matt Purke came in during the 7th with 2 out. He gave up 2 singles and a walk, filling the bases but was able to work around it and got out of the inning without any runs scoring keeping the game at 4-1. And then the trouble started as Rafael Montero made his 3rd appearance of spring training. Coming out of the pen in the 8th, he was able to strike out the first batter he faced but gave up 3 singles to the next 3 batters he faced. With the bases loaded and only 1 out, he walked the next batter he faced trimming the Mets’ lead in half. A fielding error by Ty Kelly allowed another run to score, trimming the lead to only 1 run now. In came Corey Taylor who was on damage control. He got an out from Tyler Wade but then Billy McKinney hit a grand slam to right field giving the Yankees the lead at 7-4. The trouble didn’t stop there though, in came Kevin McGowan for the 9th inning. McGowan gave up a single, a double, another single which extended the Yankees’ lead to 8-4, a home run that cleared the bases and made it 11-4. Okay, so allow me to dive into the dissection of this absolute mess. I’ll start off with Rafael Montero. Rafael is out of minor league options, which means he either makes the Opening Day roster or he gets put on Waivers and any other team can pick him up. If Montero hasn’t been such a wreck in the past, I’d say give him the chance because who knows what’ll happen. But the fact is, Montero is 27 years old now and really serves no purpose to this club any longer. When he’s in the minor leagues he’s able to record outs and pound the strike zone. But when he’s in the Majors, he’s a mess. And with a club that has people like Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo fighting for spots on the roster, it’d be a damn shame if they lost that chance to a pitcher like Montero. His lifetime MLB ERA is at 5.38 and his W/L record is 6-16. For a guy who madeh is MLB debut in 2014 and has been back and forth from the Mets and their minor league affiliates since, there’s no excuse for these kind of numbers. It’s time the Mets cut Montero loose and give his spot to someone more deserving. Another team can try their luck with him and if he ends up being an effective pitcher, great. But the Mets have enough effective pitchers right now and don’t need Montero. Okay, McGowan time now. McGowan was traded to the Mets during the Neil Walker trade earlier in the 2017 season. Over 8 games in the Majors he sports a 5.19 record over 8.2 Innings Pitched. McGowan is 26 and he’s also getting to a point where he needs to prove his worth or he’ll end up in the minors until he also runs out of options. McGowan luckily hasn’t had as many chances as Montero to prove himself which means he’s had less chances to disappoint. But so far this spring training, he’s been pretty disappointing. But hopefully he can shape up during the regular season in AAA and prove his worth.

Overall it was a tough loss and a tough game to watch after the trouble started. But through the trouble, Wheeler proved himself and so did Gsellman. Hopefully this isn’t a sign of things to come when the Mets and Yankees clash again during the regular season for the annual Subway Series.

From cross-town rivals to division rivals, the Mets squared off against the Washington Nationals earlier today (Thursday, when I’m writing this.) Noah Syndergaard made his 3rd start of the Spring Training season and was looking to continue his dominance from the past 2 starts and the bats looked to come alive after being out hit by the Yankees the day prior.

Noah Syndergaard took the mound once again and got 2 quick out on 2 pitches. Bryce Harper singled and then Noah threw a 4 pitch walk to Anthony Rendon. During the walk to Rendon, Harper stole 2nd base. Remember when I said earlier that the Mets need to be able to control runners? That is something Noah and whoever is catching for him should focus on. Runners take advantage of pitchers with a history of being unable to control their runners (e.g. Lester for the Cubs.) But Syndergaard got out of it unharmed. In the 2nd, he gave up a single, walked another and allowed another stolen base. But he struck out the next 3 batters getting him out of the inning unsaved. The strikes weren’t done yet as he struck out Turner, Harper and Rendon in order during the 3rd inning. Going for lucky number 7, Syndergaard stuck out Matt Adams to end his day on the mound. 3.1 Innings pitched, 2 hits, 2 walks and 7 strike outs. Not bad for a day’s work. Syndergaard hit 101 on the radar but kept his fastball in the high 90’s and relied on his off-speed pitches more. While this game wasn’t televised, Syndergaard continues to look dominant as he warms up for his likely Opening-Day start.

Remember when I said there’d be a lot of Nimmo praising? Well, here’s the rest of it. Nimmo hit a double in the top of the 3rd, scoring Thompson in the process (who singled, swiped a base and advanced to 3rd on a ground out earlier in the inning) giving the Mets an early 1-0 lead. Nimmo continues to produce for the Mets and is proving that he deserves a spot on the Opening Day roster and there’ll be more Nimmo to come. In the top of the 4th, Kevin Plawecki doubled and scored Cabrera, giving the Mets a 2-0 lead. Back to Nimmo, he led off the top of the 5th with a triple! I wish this game was televised because I’m sure he was smiling the entire way there. Bruce would get Nimmo in to score with a sac fly giving the Mets a 3-0 lead. Cespedes singled to continue the offense but a double play by Plawecki ended a bases loaded 5th inning for the Mets. Fast forwarding to the 8th inning now, the Mets were trailing the Nationals (which we will discuss in just a moment) but a single by Bornstein scored Guillorme, putting them within a run of the Nationals. Trailing once more in the 9th, the Mets tried their best to keep the offense coming and a ground out RBI by Nido made the score 5-8, but that was all the Mets had as they were unable to match the 8 runs put up by the Nationals.

Okay, so I said the Mets were trailing and now it’s time to discuss how that happened. After Syndergaard’s dominant outing, Jerry Blevins came in to finish the 4th inning and despite an error by Gonzalez, he was able to finish what Noah started and got the Mets out of the inning. It was in the 5th that things went south for the Mets as Familia entered the game. To this point, Familia had been pretty solid in his outings. This was not one of those games sadly. In the 5th he gave up a walk and a double which brought in a run. Another single would bring in another, and then a home run would give the Nationals the lead at 4-3. Coming out for more in the 6th, Familia gave up another home run making the score 3-5. 1.1 Innings Pitched, 4 Hits, 5 Earned Runs, 1 Walk and 2 Home runs put his ERA up to 8.44 which is not pretty for the man who is supposed to be the Mets’ closer. AJ Ramos came in to clean up the mess in the 6th and got a ground out and a strike out to end the inning. He also come back out for more work in the 7th, getting a pop up for the first out, he walked the next batter and allowed a single. But he was able to get out of the inning with a double play keeping the game at 3-5. Bautista came in during the 8th. I said last week I’ve been impressed with Bautista thus far but this was a pretty disappointing performance. Starting the inning with a single, he gave up a walk and another single allowing the Nationals to extend their lead to 4-7. A stolen base, followed by a throwing error by Nido made things worse as another single allowed the Nationals to score another run, making it a 4 run contest. 1.0 Innings pitched, 4 Hits, 3 earned runs, 2 walks and 2 strike outs brought the young flamethrower’s ERA to 6.35. Bautista’s performance isn’t too concerning since he’s still very young and won’t play a role in the majors this season (unless everything goes terribly wrong.) But Familia’s performance is a little startling since he’s likely going to be closing out games or at least setting up Ramos for a close (depending on which way Callaway wants to go.) Hopefully it was just a one game kind of thing and he’ll buckle down and get things under control by his next performance.

Overall there were some things to be impressed with in this game. First off, Noah Syndergaard is clearly ready to dominate and if he can strikeout 7 batters in 3 innings of work, imagine what he can do in 7 or 8 innings. Brandon Nimmo continues to impress going 3 for 5 at the plate with 1 RBI. And other than Bautista and Familia, the bullpen looked good with Blevins and Ramos both putting in good outings.

AND that’s the Mets’ week in review. A proper week in review that is. Like I said, next week will be a recap of Friday – Thursday and I’ll have a lot more to cover but I’ll be on Spring Break so I’ll be more than happy to sit in front of my TV and take notes to provide a good, quality post for everyone to read. In the meantime, let me know if you liked the way I explained the games. If you have any comments or suggestions, you can always email me at keithsmustacheblog@gmail.com or tweet at me @keiths_mustache , or leave a comment below. As always, thanks for reading folks and I’ll talk to you all soon.

Alright folks, I’ve been pretty consistent with when I post new things (typically every Thursday) but I’ve been busy with school and…engulfed in Fortnite. So I really haven’t given myself much time to focus on getting new material out. But, it’s a Sunday, I have the day off and I’m ready to tackle this post. So, what’re we going to discuss today? Well, a number of things honestly. I want to take a look at Brandon Nimmo and see if he has a case to be the starting Center Fielder come Opening Day, if Kevin Plawecki should get more playing time this season, and just take a look at who I’ve been impressed (and concerned) with the most during Spring Training. So, this is going to be a long one but I’ve got to make up for lost time. So without further ado, let’s jump into this bad boy.

Brandon Nimmo: Starting Center Fielder?

Let me start by saying that Brandon Nimmo is one of my favorite young Mets. He’s got so much heart and you can tell he’s just genuinely happy to be part of the team and I think that’s the case for a lot of Mets’ fans. But not only does he have the admiration of the fans, he’s got the attention of Mets’ General Manager Sandy Alderson who wasn’t willing to trade Nimmo to the Pirates during New York’s hunt for a second baseman. And that was a smart move by Sandy because Brandon Nimmo in my opinion has one of the brightest futures amongst the young Mets.

Nimmo spent 2 seasons in the Majors for a period of time (some longer than others), both coming in 2016 and 2017. His 2016 stint was shorter than the 2017 one, but he still impressed during his time there. In 32 games he had a .274 Batting Average and while he was only able to hit one home run, it was a big one. A towering three-run home run off of the Cubs’ Jason Hammel earned young Nimmo a curtain call from the Mets fans. And while the 442ft home run was the reason for the curtain call, he also had 5 base hits in his first 6 games in the Major Leagues. With one of the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen in a baseball game, Nimmo earned himself the love and admiration of the fans. Nimmo was sent back to AAA in July, but then recalled after Lagares suffered an injury. Nimmo floated around between AAA and MLB for the remainder of the season until September when the Triple-A call ups started happening.

In 2017, Nimmo participated in the World Baseball Classic, representing Team Italy. Sadly, Nimmo suffered a strained hamstring which caused him to miss the opportunity of making the Mets’ Opening Day roster. But Nimmo would make sure that was noticed when the opportunity arose. On June 16th, injuries to Matt Harvey and Juan Lagares got Nimmo recalled from Triple-A once again but was put on the DL with a partially collapsed lung on July 8th. Thankfully the injury wasn’t anything too serious and he was able to return 20 days later. He would remain in the majors for the remainder of the season finishing with a .260 batting average and a .379 On Base Percentage. He hit 5 home runs, had 21 RBIs and drew 33 walks over 69 games played. Nimmo’s plate discipline was amazing, it seemed like he was drawing walks left and right. And, every time he would draw a walk he’d run to first base faster than anyone I’ve ever seen (with a giant smile on his face.) There is always room for improvement and Nimmo has shown improvement already in Spring Training thus far. He’s been seeing the ball well and with 15 at bats has a .400 AVG.

Juan Lagares is no slouch, Lagares is a former Golden Glover and you could argue that defensively, he is one of the best outfielders in the National League. But the problem with Lagares is, he isn’t a great hitter. He CAN hit, and he can get on a hot streak but he’s definitely more of a defensive player than he is an offensive player. Lagares has a lifetime Batting Average a little under .260, 20 home runs, 146 RBIs and 37 Stolen Bases. The numbers of games played by Lagares has gone down drastically since the arrival of Yoenis Cespedes and its decreased more with the arrival of Jay Bruce and a newly driven Michael Conforto. But with Conforto injured and probably not available to make a Major League start until early May, this could be the time for Juan to shine. But his opposition is the man we just talked about, Brandon Nimmo. Lagares has been battling through injuries since 2016 when he sprained his thumb. The injury to the thumb ended up costing him almost 2 months of playing time and he batted .239 with a .301 on base percentage. 2017 was much of the same for Juan, he once again battled through injuries and only had 252 at bats. He had a .250 average and a .296 on base percentage. Lagares is still young enough to have a bounce back season, he’ll be 29 by the time opening day rolls around. But injury has kept Juan from getting a lot of playing time in Spring thus far. While the injury was minor, a “tight” left leg kept him out of action until this past Friday (March 2nd) where he went hitless in 1 at bat. The next day he had 1 hit in 2 appearances. There is still plenty of time for Lagares to prove that he deserves to be on the field for Opening Day, he will likely have to play catch up to Nimmo.

But to the original question, does Nimmo have a strong enough case to be the Opening Day center fielder? I think, yes he absolutely has a strong enough case. Nimmo has so much room for improvement and he’s likely to improve a ton this spring. The sky is really the limit for Nimmo who has potential to be a leadoff hitter for the Mets. You always want your leadoff guy to get on base and Nimmo is the guy to do so. Lagares is a veteran for the Mets and had a great 2014 and 2015 but has had trouble finding his footing since then. If Lagares can get back to where he was a few seasons ago, he could very well take that spot as Opening Day Center Fielder. But as of this writing, I think Brandon Nimmo is the right person to play center field on Opening Day and potentially even lead off the line up.

Does Kevin Plawecki deserve more playing time?

From one young guy battling for playing time to another. Kevin Plawecki has been floating between Triple-A and the MLB for a few years now and hasn’t really been impressive until his last call up in 2017. Plawecki was less than impressive in 2015 and 2016, hitting with a batting average of only .211, 4 Home runs and 77 hits over 121 games. But 2017 seemed to bring us a different Plawecki. In 37 games, Plawecki had 26 hits, 3 home runs, a .260 Batting Average and .364 On Base Percentage. And so far in Spring Training, Kevin Plawecki seems to be carrying that over with him. With 10 at bats he’s got a .400 Batting Average and seems to be seeing the ball well. While these statistics are all circumstantial since it is Spring Training, it’s still worth taking note that he’s definitely a different player than he was in seasons prior.

Travis d’Arnaud is a guy who still has a ton of potential but he has yet to really set the world on fire. He’s teased fans with what he can do a few times but he hasn’t been able to fully run with it. Making his debut for the Mets in 2013, Travis has a lifetime Batting Average of .245, 46 home runs and 159 RBIs. His best season was 2015 when he had a .268 average and 12 home runs, although his 2017 season did see him hit 16 home runs and get a .244 Batting Average. Travis has also had 10 at bats this spring training and has a .200 average.

I don’t know if Plawecki is ready to be the Mets permanent catcher, but he deserves more chances at (and behind) the plate for sure. Neither him or Travis are exactly the best defensive catchers which halts both of them from being elite catchers. But, much like Nimmo these guys still have a lot of room to grow and improve and with Mike Piazza visiting the team earlier in the week, hopefully he could pass some of his knowledge on to the young catchers. But, to answer the question: Plawecki deserves more playing time. It’s already been said that they’re expected to split playing time, but if Plawecki can get hot, I see no reason why he can’t take over as a primary catcher (…or relief pitcher.)

Spring Training Week 1: Who’s Impressive?

Noah Syndergaard: It’s hard not to be impressed with Noah Syndergaard. Especially when he comes out throwing nothing but absolute HEAT. Using only 22 pitches to get through two innings, he struck out two guys and didn’t allow a hit. He even incorporated a changeup that struck out AL MVP Jose Altuve who later said if Syndergaard threw him that pitch 100 times, he’d strike out 100 times. But it’s not just the heat that’s impressive about Syndergaard because on his second start he slowed things down a bit, only hitting the 100 mph mark twice, as opposed to 11 times in the first outing. He threw 3 innings against the Marlins with the only blemishes being a walk, a hit and a run. But he struck out 4 in the process and looked great doing it. Looking for a comeback season after going down with an unceremonious injury in 2017, Syndergaard looks to be in peak physical form and while he threw VERY hard during his first outing, he said he didn’t feel like he was exerting much energy and he seems to have things under control. With deGrom still not making a start yet, Syndergaard may be on his way to pitching Opening Day for the 2nd year in a row.

Gavin Cecchini: Gavin was at point the Mets top prospect but he never seemed to bring what he was doing in the minor leagues to the majors. But it seems as if he’s found new life during the off season. Debuting a new beard, Cecchini has been doing fantastic in Spring Training thus far and is making a case as to why he should still be considered one of the Mets’ top prospects. With 11 at bats under his belt, he’s hitting .455 with 2 home runs and 5 RBIs. Gavin looks stronger and has shown that he can play second base as well as shortstop. If Amed Rosario’s knee injury is a serious thing, Cecchini MIGHT be able to steal himself a spot on the Opening Day roster (highly unlikely unless the injury is very serious.) If Cecchini keeps this up, I might have to change the name of the website to Gavin’s beard.

Seth Lugo: Lugomania is going to be running wild. I told you it would be and it will be. Okay, maybe not just yet. But Lugo has looked great in his 2 starts thus far. While he’s sporting a 0-1 record currently (so is Syndergaard) he’s got a 1.80 ERA over 5 innings with 4 strikeouts. Fighting to get a spot in the rotation, Lugo is making a case for himself and even if he doesn’t grab a spot in the rotation, he could very well take a relief job away from someone else. But time will tell. But nonetheless, LUGOMANIA will be running wild.

Gerson Bautista: Okay, I genuinely had no idea who this kid was until I saw him pitch relief just recently. But he is something to be seen. He’s only 22 years old and he’s been throwing some serious heat in his relief outings. Last season while in Single-A ball he threw 33 pitches that were over 100 mph. Bautista came over from the Red Sox when the Addison Reed trade occurred. With Boston he struggled in their High-A Salem league. But he’s throw 4 and 2/3 innings with 6 strikeouts and 1.93 ERA. I’m intrigued to see what happens with him. He will likely be promoted from Single-A to at LEAST Double-A. But if the bullpen needs reinforcement and someone isn’t performing or gets injured, he could be a name that Callaway calls on.

Brandon Nimmo: I’m not going to explain why I’m impressed with Nimmo because I think I covered most of that above. So in the meantime, here’s a gif of him smiling.

There’s a ton of other guys I’m impressed with, but these were the 5 names that came to mind right away. Of course I think Harvey, Wheeler, Gsellman and Montero all looked sharp as well. And guys like Cespdes and Bruce have been doing well also. While the Mets have a losing record, it’s Spring Training and as long as individually everyone is doing what they should be doing, the Mets will be in good shape heading into the regular season.

And with that, I’m done. I did it. After nothing but procrastination and fortnite, I finished an article. Next week I won’t be so lazy and I’ll hopefully have a post-up on Thursday. What would you like to see me discuss next? As always, send me an email, tweet at me, comment below, send me a fax, use smoke signals, whatever your preferred form of communication is.

Alright so full disclosure, I didn’t know what to write about this week. I considered doing a ‘thumbs up, thumbs down’ on the Jason Vargas signing but I just really wasn’t feeling it. After a bunch of scrapped ideas, I finally settled on doing 5 Predictions for the Mets 2018 season. I don’t want to steal John Smoltz’ thing and say they’re “bold” predictions…but they’re pretty bold. Now before I begin the list, I should say that these are purely predictions. I’m not basin them on what is rumored to be happening in Spring Training games or anything. I figured it’d be fun to just share what I think the Mets are capable of doing this season. Of course it might be a little biased, but it’s my website. I can do whatever I want. Alright…here we go.

1. Matt Harvey wins the NL Comeback Player of the Year – If you’ve read any of my previous posts then you probably know that I am not a big fan of Matt Harvey. My dislike for Matt Harvey doesn’t have to do with his poor pitching because who am I to judge a man’s ability to comeback from an injury? My disdain for Matt Harvey really started last season when he didn’t show up to the park because he was too busy partying the night before. It was at that point that the other stories began to recirculate of Harvey doing this sort of thing before. Most notably was Harvey missing a mandatory workout during the 2015 playoffs. So it was with that sort of unprofessionalism along with his excuses for why he wasn’t pitching well that really made me dislike Matt Harvey last season. But, I’m ready to forgive Matt Harvey and give him a second chance. (I’m sure it means a lot to him) With Mickey Callaway not only being a great pitching coach, he’s also stated what he expects out of his players and so I don’t expect Harvey to be coddled as much as he was by Terry Collins. But his ability to help turnaround a struggling pitcher is something that is priceless for a team that has so many young and capable pitchers. Callaway has been credited by Mets’ new reliever Anthony Swarzak for helping him turnaround his pitching back in 2015 when he played for the Indians. Callaway helped him get his fastball from the low 90s to the mid 90s. If that wasn’t enough, the Indians credit Callaway for their turnaround. With Callaway leading the pitching staff in Cleveland, they reached the postseason three times, won two division titles and were American League Champions in 2016. They also ranked first in wins and ERA during 2016. And while Callaway isn’t the Mets’ pitching coach, you just know he’s going to be a lot more hands on with the pitchers than previous managers. Along with new pitching coach Dave Eiland, the Mets pitchers are in very capable hands and Matt Harvey is probably their biggest project. Sure, even the Mets’ aces like deGrom and Syndergaard could learn a lot more from Callaway and Eiland, but the main focus has to be on Harvey. Callaway said recently they don’t need Harvey to be “The Dark Knight” they just need him to be Matt Harvey and I think that alone shows that they’re focused on getting Harvey back on track. There are going to be quite a few names in the National League who could win comeback player of the year. You’ve got Bumgarner, Pederson, Cueto and even fellow Mets’ pitcher Noah Syndergaard. And while Syndergaard is likely to have a great season, I think Harvey’s got more to prove than the other guys. Bumgarner was out for most of 2017 with an injury but never hit rock bottom like Harvey had. If Matt Harvey can get anywhere close to replicating his 2013 or 2015 season, he’s a sure shoe-in for Comeback Player of the Year.

2. Mets get representation in the All-Star Game – The All-Star game is something a lot of current Mets players aren’t strangers to. Bruce, Cespedes, deGrom, Harvey, Reyes, Familia, Frazier, Gonzalez and a handful more have all been to the All-Star game in some capacity (whether it be as a Met or representing their previous team.) Last year the Mets had Michael Conforto represent them in the All-Star game as a bench player and the year prior Cespedes, Familia and Syndergaard were both voted in as All-Stars but sadly Cespedes and Syndergaard were injured and couldn’t participate and Familia wasn’t called on. I’m predicting that 3 Mets are going to the All-Star game this year. The first one, Yoenis Cespedes. The second, Jay Bruce. And the final, Noah Syndergaard. Cespedes is a guy who is extremely capable of being an All-Star every year he plays, as long as he’s healthy. And after spending a majority of last season on and off the Disabled List, he spent this offseason practicing yoga and other ways to prevent injury and be more flexible. With his new training regimens and a new head trainer, Cespedes is likely to have another great season and play a huge role in their line up with his power hitting. If Cespedes can remain healthy and have the sort of season he’s projected to have, he’s an easy candidate for the All-Star game. Jay Bruce should have been an all-star last season. I don’t know why he wasn’t; he was on pace of having the best season of his career (which he arguably ended up having) but for whatever reason he was overlooked and didn’t get the opportunity. But after hitting 36 home runs last season and helping the Indians in the post season, I think Bruce is going to make his return to the All-Star game and represent the Mets proudly. Then there’s Noah Syndergaard. Noah Syndergaard is a guy who would’ve been in the All-Star game last season if he didn’t get injured. I’m sure of it. There’s no way he couldn’t have been, he’s just that damn good. And while Jacob deGrom is very capable of returning to the All-Star game, I think Noah is going to have the best season of his career this year and make it back to the All-Star game and be able to participate in it this time. Because just like Cespedes, Syndergaard has also been looking at new ways to stay healthy and with the tutelage of Mickey Callaway and Dave Eiland, Syndergaard can be better than ever and show the world why he should be in the same conversation as Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw.

3. Amed Rosario has most Stolen Bases in NL – Okay, yeah this is where I start getting real bold with my predictions. Last season Dee Gordon led the National League and the entire MLB with the most stolen baseswitha staggering 60 of them. Billy Hamilton wasn’t far behind with 59 of them. Gordon is now in the American League, but Rosario still has to compete against Hamilton, Turner, Pham and fellow teammate Reyes. Reyes isn’t really a huge threat though seeing as how he won’t be given as much playing time as Rosario and he’s older and not as fast as he once was. Rosario is more than capable of shining bright when he gets on base. Rosario is actually faster than he was originally scouted to be. He blew everyone’s mind last season when he made it from home to third in a stunning 11.32 seconds with a sprint speed of 29 ft/sec. And in September he was declared baseball’s fastest shortstop. And he was tied for 4th as the fastest player in all of baseball, tying with Dee Gordon. Rosario only played 46 games in the Majors last season. With a full season ahead of him, there’s really no saying what the young shortstop can accomplish this year. One thing is for sure though, the Mets are aware of his speed and if all goes well in Spring Training, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him leading off for the Mets and swiping bases whenever he can. Much like his mentor Jose Reyes did from 05 to 07, I see Rosario leading the National League in Stolen Bases.

4. Yoenis Cespedes wins MVP – Yo has stated his intention of being MVP before and this year can very well be the year. Like I said before, he’s taken up a new approach to his training and if he can stay healthy, he can have his best season yet. A healthy, more flexible, and versatile Cespedes is a scary thing. He’s already one of the most feared hitters in the National League (despite going through a slump with his injury last season.) It’s likely Cespedes will be the clean-up hitter once again this season and that’s going to give him more chances to drive in runs. Much like last season’s National League MVP: Giancarlo Stanton, Cespedes will likely be swinging for the fences and driving in runs via the long ball. But that’s not all it takes to be MVP, he’s going to have to continue to impress in the outfield and show off what that cannon of an arm can do. All things that he’s more than capable of and likely going to be even better at this season. Callaway has stated before that he’s going to make sure his players stay hydrated, which is something Cespedes wasn’t doing enough of in previous seasons. And with Ray Ramirez gone, Cespedes will have a new trainer who can hopefully help him workout any kinks he may still have in his hamstring and help him earn the right to be called MVP of the National League.

5. Mets go back to the Postseason – Yeah now we’re REALLY getting into the bold predictions. The Mets have been around since 1962, and in those 56 seasons they’ve only been in the postseason 9 times and out of those 9 times, they’ve won the World Series twice. Their most recent appearance in the postseason was in the 2016 National League Wildcard game. 2017 was being touted as THE year for the Mets. They arguably had the most feared rotation in MLB (if they remained healthy…which they did not). But unfortunately, injuries kept the Mets from getting anywhere near the playoffs last season. But the Mets have a new trainer, their players have new outlooks when it comes to training, they have a new manager and a new pitching coach. If there was ever a time for a Mets’ comeback, it could very well be 2018. I’ve already said above that Harvey could very well have a comeback season, and guys like Syndergaard and deGrom can shine even brighter with a manager like Callaway and a pitching coach in Dave Eiland, a return to the postseason isn’t unlikely for the Mets. Now, how do the Mets get to the postseason? Of course getting there via the Wildcard game seems more likely, it’s also possible that they can dethrone the reigning National League East champions, The Washington Nationals and retake that title. I know, that’s a VERY bold thing to say, but here me out. The Nationals have been champions of the National League East 2 years in a row but have zero National League Pennants. After a while, that’s going to affect a ball club’s drive. I’m not saying the Nationals are going to have a bad season, they have some of the most capable guys in the entire league. But I’m saying that the Mets have a chance to take back the throne and lead the National League East. They have all the pieces and are serious contenders who can give the Nationals a run for their money. Regardless of how they get there, I’m predicting the Mets get back to the Postseason this year.

Well everyone, those are my predictions and I know that they all seem very unlikely, but like the Mets’ mantra says…” Ya Gotta Believe.” I believe in the Mets. The Mets believe in the Mets. Do you believe in the Mets? How many of my predictions do you agree with? Do you think I’m drinking the Kool-Aid too much? Am I out of my mind? Let me know in the comments below, or as always send me a tweet @Keiths_Mustache or email me at keithsmustacheblog@gmail.com . Thanks for reading, if you enjoyed it please feel free to click the share button below and show your fellow Mets fans. I’d appreciate it more than you know! Talk to you all very soon.

Well folks, it’s that time of the year again. The time of year where I see pictures and videos of the Mets down in Port St. Lucie soaking in the sun and playing baseball, preparing for the season. The time of year where I’m stuck in a cruel New York winter, cursing to myself that I’ve yet again missed an opportunity to save money, go to Florida and see my favorite team play some baseball. BUT, it’s okay because when the team takes the field for their first Spring Training game, Opening Day will only be 34 days away and I can sit above left field and (hopefully) watch them start the season with a win. And it’ll be wonderful, even though I’ll more than likely be frozen to death. But enough about me, it’s time to talk some baseball. It’s time to talk about the 2018 season. It’s time to talk Opening Day roster. It’s time for some predictions and boy, oh boy, do I have some predictions for you. Without further a due, allow me to give you my New York Mets’ Opening Day Lineup, Bench, Rotation and Bull Pen. Here we go!

Alright, we’re going to start off with the lineup since it’s likely the easiest to predict. For this lineup, I’m going to imagine that Michael Conforto is healthy by Opening Day. I know that they’ve said he probably won’t be, but I’ve seen videos of him at Spring Training and he seems to be doing well, so I’ll be an optimist and pretend he’s healthy for Opening Day.

1. Shortstop: Amed Rosario – That’s right, I’m stealing John Smoltz’ gimmick and making a bold prediction. I predict that the rookie short stop will get the first at bat for the Mets in 2018. And the reasoning is simple…speed. Dee Gordon, Jean Segura, Billy Hamilton, Trea Turner, all speedy players and all led their team’s batting lineup last season. And with the exception of Gordon and Segura, they’ll likely be doing the same thing this season. It’s a good idea to put your fastest player in the top of the lineup for obvious reasons. They have the best chance of scoring for you. When someone like Rosario gets on base, he has a good chance of making it from 1st to 3rd or from 2nd to home on a base hit to the outfield. Or he can swipe a base and get the team out of a possible Double Play scenario. And if Rosario is going to be the “next Jose Reyes” he’s got to get an opportunity to do so and what better way than leading the team’s lineup on opening day.

2. Center Field: Michael Conforto – Like I said in the introduction, I’m pretending for this scenario that Conforto is healthy. Conforto was given the opportunity to lead off the team last season for a period of time and he was very productive in that spot. But with a speedy guy like Rosario on the team, Conforto leading off the team just doesn’t seem to make much sense. But, Conforto was one of the most impressive players last season with a .384 On Base Percentage and a career high 27 Home Runs. If he can be as productive as he was in 2017, putting him in the 2 hole gives him a pretty good chance of driving in a run if Rosario is on base. If Conforto isn’t healthy enough to be on the lineup for Opening Day, the spot would go to either Brandon Nimmo or Juan Lagares and while the power wouldn’t be there, Lagares is quick enough to avoid a DP and Nimmo knows how to get on base.

3. Second Base: Asdrubal Cabrera – Cabrera used to never be able to hit when runners were on base. In fact, it was sort of his kryptonite. But he turned that around during the 2016 season and carried that over into the 2017 season. He drove in 59 runs last season, hit 14 Home Runs and had an On Base Percentage of .351. It’s not as impressive as it was in his previous seasons, but that’s because he’s a veteran player, but he still has a lot to offer the lineup. He’s come through in some very clutch moments in the past and if he can get on base, that means he’s got the clean-up guy a chance to hit and drive in some runs.

4. Left Fielder: Yoenis Cespedes – Okay, so I was very torn about who should be the clean-up hitter in this line up. It was either Cespedes or Jay Bruce. Of course Bruce had the better season in 2017, but Cespedes was injured for most of it and even during that injury plagued season he had 17 home runs and a .292 Batting Average. Hopefully with the new training staff, Cespedes will be able to stay hydrated, healthy and able to help the Mets the way he did in 2015 and 2016. And of course if he doesn’t produce in the clean-up spot, there’s always Bruce. Who we’re talking about next.

5. Right Fielder: Jay Bruce – Like I said, I had a hard time deciding between Bruce and Cespedes for the clean-up spot but either way, hitting 5th is still a good spot for Bruce. If you have the two power houses hitting back to back, who knows what’ll happen. Bruce had a career season in 2017 with 36 home runs, 101 RBIs and a .254 Batting Average. If Bruce can bring even half of that with him in 2018, the Mets are in a good place and have a dangerous middle of the lineup for opposing pitchers to get by.

6. Third Baseman: Todd Frazier – Todd Frazier is of course the newest addition to the Mets’ roster but he’s no stranger to being a key player for a team. The 6 spot is a good place for Frazier to show off what he’s got. Like I discussed in my last post, Frazier is a three true outcome player (strikeout, walk or home run.) And hopefully he’ll be able to do more than just those three things, but if he can continue to get on base via walks (which he did 83 times last season), he sets up the number 7 sitter to drive in some runs and that’s something he’s very good at.

7. 1st Baseman: Adrian Gonzalez – When the Mets first signed Adrian Gonzalez I was pissed off. I didn’t understand what he could offer the ball club but then I looked more into his career and realized despite his extremely short season last year, he’s been a pretty consistent player for the Dodgers. In 2016 and 2015, he drove in 90 runs and even though he only played 71 games in 2017, he drove in 30 runs. Hopefully Gonzalez can remain healthy in 2018 and continue to produce some runs and make the bottom of the batting order just as threatening as the top.

8. Catcher: Travis d’Arnaud – Travis is a complicated hitter…actually not so much complicated as he is inconsistent. He has moments where he can be a dangerous hitter at the plate, and then in the blink of an eye he can be swinging at everything and looking absolutely terrible at the plate. But, in 2017 he showed more potential than he had in previous seasons. Really, the job of the 8th guy in the lineup is to make sure that the pitcher doesn’t have to lead off the next inning. So if Travis can get on base in any capacity, he’s doing his job and that’s what I’m looking for out of him and I think keeping the catcher at the bottom of the lineup isn’t something the Mets should mess around with.

9. Pitcher spot

Alright, so there’s my predicted line up. Now let’s discuss the bench players, because the Mets have quite a few guys to decide who will be on their 25-man roster. It’s hard to see where the Mets can fit these guys in, since they’ve stated they intend on using their bullpen a lot this season. So, I’m predicting that the Mets are going with a 5-man bench and going with a 7 man bullpen. But we’ll get into that after discussing the bench.

1. Infielder: Wilmer Flores – Wilmer Flores is someone who I think deserves to be an everyday player and depending on how things go, he may get that opportunity. I personally would’ve had him spend Spring Training really taking the time to learn 1st base and then be the starting 1st baseman for the Mets with A-Gon on the bench. But, I don’t see that happening so Wilmer will likely be a pinch hitter for the Mets unless something goes wrong with the starting lineup.

2. Outfielder: Brandon Nimmo – Nimmo is one of my favorite Mets and I think eventually he’ll be an everyday player. And if Conforto isn’t medically cleared to play by Opening Day, then Nimmo will definitely get a chance to show everyone what he can do. Nimmo has had a few short stints with the Mets and he’s one of the most enjoyable people to watch. He always has a smile on his face, and he can hit. And when he’s not hitting, he’s still getting on base because the kid draws walks like no one’s business (and then smiles as he runs to 1st base faster than most people would after drawing a walk.) Nimmo is someone who has a lot of untapped potential and he’ll likely get the chance to show that potential more in 2018 since all signs point to him being on the 25-man roster to start the season.

3. Centerfielder: Juan Lagares – Juan Lagares is another guy with a lot to offer the team, but unfortunately through injuries, he’s gotten lost in the shuffle of the Mets’ outfield. That’s no knock on Juan either, but when the outfield is full of guys like Bruce, Conforto and Cespedes, it can be hard to get the proper chance to stand out. Despite that, Lagares is a former golden glover and what he may lack in power hitting, he makes up for as a great defensive player and he can be put into a game in the late innings to protect a lead with the impressive range he can cover out in centerfield.

4. Infielder: Jose Reyes – Jose Reyes (as I’ve talked about A LOT) is a great person to have in the club house for the Mets. And not only that but he’s a great guy to have on the bench. Jose is clearly understanding of his role on the team, he’s not going to be a starter, he’s going to be a bench guy and that’s unlikely to change (unless everyone get injured…knock on wood.) But he serves well as a pinch runner if needed, or he can cover any of the infield positions (with the exception of first) if someone needs a day off. Reyes is a guy like d’Arnaud, he can go from hitting homers and driving in runs like crazy, to swinging like a mad man and missing everything. Regardless, Jose is a great guy to have at the Mets’ disposal on the bench.

5. Catcher: Kevin Plawecki – Kevin Plawecki may have made his MLB debut in 2015, but he really didn’t make much of an impact until he came up in 2017. When Plawecki came back up from AAA in 2017, he looked like a different player. He was hitting better , he looked determine to learn and I think he’s going to be a pleasant surprise this season with the opportunity to play a full season in the majors. He’s unlikely to be the starting catcher, but rather someone to fill the position when Travis needs a day off. Or there’s always the chance he can try to lower his ERA and do some relief pitching again.

With the bench now covered, let us move on to the Rotation…which is probably the most difficult one to predict but I did my best with it. So let’s give it a go.

1. Jacob deGrom – I don’t think there’s much of an explanation needed for this decision. I talked about this in length during the “Who should be the Opening Day starter” post I put up last month. To summarize it quickly: Jacob deGrom carried the team on his back when all of his peers were injured during 2017 and he had his best season. He’s earned the opportunity to be the 1st guy in the rotation and have his first chance as pitching on Opening Day.

2. Noah Syndergaard – Much like Jacob deGrom, I talked about this as length in the Opening Day starter post. Noah, despite a season cut short in 2017, is still one of the most feared pitchers in the MLB and with his training being less focused on bulking up (I think he learned his lesson) he’s looking for a comeback season and If deGrom hadn’t had the season he did during 2017, I think Noah would absolutely be the Opening Day starter but much like Noah earned the opportunity to pitch Opening Day last season for the way he carried the team in 2016, Jacob did the same in 2017. Being the second guy in the rotation is still something Noah can be proud of because as far as I’m concerned, the Mets have 2 aces, despite what the rotation order is.

3. Matt Harvey – Okay, so yeah I don’t like Matt Harvey’s personality and I’ve talked about that in length as well. BUT, it looks like he’s changing. I know Spring Training has only been going on for 3 days, but according to the Mets’ new pitching coach Dave Eiland, Harvey had bad pitching habits but is now in good shape. Eiland is a respect pitching coach, and of course having Mickey Callaway (a former pitching coach in his own right) as the team manager, Harvey is very likely to have a bounce back season and I think he’s also got his attitude and priorities in check.

4. Steven Matz – Steven Matz has unfortunately fallen victim to injury after injury in the past few seasons. But when he’s been at his healthiest, he’s been a bright spot for the Mets. Much like Harvey, Matz is looking for a bounce back season and under the tutelage of Eiland and Callaway, his chance of having one is looking good. Also, with the new training staff, hopefully he can stay healthy and not be put on the DL every few weeks like he was when Ray Ramirez was the “trainer.”

5. Seth Lugo – Okay, I’m probably being biased here but I think Lugo is one of the most underrated young Mets on the roster. Lugo may have had a disappointing season after falling victim to injury, but he was a huge help in the 2016 season and he pitched brilliantly throughout the World Baseball Classic. I’ve also discussed Lugo in length in a previous post, so I’ll summarize it like this: Lugomania WILL be running wild in Spring Training and he WILL be a starter for the Mets in 2018. Take that to the bank.

Alright, we’re at the tail end of this prediction and It’s been a lot harder than I thought it was. You’ve probably noticed there’s a couple names missing from the rotation discussion, but don’t worry we’re about to discuss them. Hang tight, we’re almost there. It’s time to discuss the bullpen.

1. Zack Wheeler – Wait what? Zack Wheeler? Relief pitcher? Yeah. Wheeler in my opinion is someone who is beyond repair because even when he was healthy, he was never a guy who went deep into a game. Having him come in to pitch an inning or two is a much better spot for him. With the Mets looking to keep most guys (anyone other than Jake and Noah) at 5 innings, a guy who could throw 1 or 2 innings like Wheeler is an important piece to a bullpen and I think he could be impressive at the role.

2. Robert Gsellman – Robert Gsellman had a short stint of relief appearances in 2017 and he was quite impressive in the role. While it wasn’t many appearances, he looked comfortable during the times he was. He actually pitched the 9th inning for the Mets 2017 opening day. Much like Wheeler, having a guy who can be a long relief pitcher is something good for the Mets to have in their back pocket. If someone gets hurt, or just isn’t having a good day on the mound, Gsellman is a guy who could come in and throw 3 or 4 innings if necessary.

3. Paul Sewald – God I love Paul Sewald. When he first made his MLB debut he got his “tits lit up.” But when he had his second stint with the Mets in April, he buckled down and ended up being one of the more reliable arms in the bullpen. He’s usually a 1 or 2 inning guy, but he’s gone 3 before and he was a key part of the bullpen in 2017 and I think he’s going to shine in 2018.

4. Anthony Swarzak – Okay, I’ve actually never seen Swarzak pitch. Well, I might have and not even realized it. The name didn’t stick out to me when the Mets signed him early in the off season. But I did some research, I looked at his numbers, I watched some clips and I think he could a very important part of the bullpen. With guys like Blevins, Familia and Ramos, Swarzak is going to fit in quite fine with them. Likely being a 6th inning pitcher, he’s got some impressive numbers and I think he can be a key component to keeping the bullpen together.

5. Jerry Blevins – Hello, Jerry. Jerry Blevins is the man and my god does he throw a filthy curve ball. Since coming to the Mets in 2015, he’s had impressive numbers and was one of the key players in the Mets bullpen last season. Blevins is someone you can call on in a pinch and get outs. Blevins will likely continue to be a 7th inning relief guy and help get the Mets into the set up stages.

6. AJ Ramos – The Mets getting AJ Ramos was a very confusing transaction. They were selling at the deadline, and had just gotten rid of Addison Reed but then picked up AJ Ramos from the Marlins who was under team control through 2018. It was a strange pick up, but a good one nonetheless. He had a few rough outings as the closer for the Mets but with him likely being the set up guy for Familia, I think he can be a good replacement to Addison Reed. His numbers aren’t all that great but he always looks confident on the mound and for good reason, because when he’s on, he’s on.

7. Jeurys Familia – Watching Familia pitch can be one of the scariest things in the world. I think back to the game against the Cubs where he loaded the bases with no outs and somehow got out of it without giving up any runs. He’s a guy who can be absolutely dominant and get a quick save, or he can walk 2 guys and give everyone in the crowd a heart attack. But, he usually comes out without giving up the game. He did hold the NL record for most saves in 2015 and had a 35 for 35 save record in 2016. Familia is a guy who might not always be lights out, but he’s impressive enough as a closer that he’s more than likely going to be closing out the games for the Mets.

I know there’s some guys missing from the list, but some of them are either injured or just don’t offer enough to the team to justify a spot on the Opening Day roster to me (With the exception of Dom Smith, who I think should be the first baseman but Sandy doesn’t think so and I wanted to keep this list as probable as possible). Also, TJ Rivera is likely to be back on the 25-man roster after fully recovering from his Tommy John surgery.

Of course I have no real insight to what the Mets are planning on doing this season. All I have is what I read online, but these are my predictions for the Mets 2018 Opening Day roster. I’d love to heard what you think of the list and what your opening day line up or rotation would be. As always, drop a comment below, email me at keithsmustacheblog@gmail.com or tweet me @keiths_mustache . And if you’d be so kind to share the post with your fellow Mets fan friends, I’d appreciate it very much. Thanks for reading!